Tumwater adds its three aces to a local abundance of pitchers

It’s the year of the pitcher in Thurston County.

When Olympia High School baseball coach Derek Weldon realized he had three Division I-bound pitchers on his roster, he’d never experienced such a thing. Less than five miles away, not even a 10-minute drive, Tumwater coach Lyle Overbay had the same thought.

Ryan Orr, who will join two of the Bears’ aces, Rylan Haider and Sax Mattson, at Washington State, combines with Seattle U-bound Blake Smith and Nevada-Las Vegas commit Jordan Hanson on Tumwater’s pitching staff.

Orr, Smith and Hanson have played together since they were 11.

“I haven’t seen a group that’s much better, particularly not at the 2A level,” Overbay said. “You might when you get into the 3A or 4A level but around here it’s unheard of.”

Thursday, Orr and Smith combined to hold Aberdeen without an earned run in a 7-1 win. The Bobcats managed just two hits off Orr in three innings while Smith struck out seven in his four frames. Friday, Hanson got the win as the T-Birds completed a sweep with a 12-4 win in Aberdeen.

The cliché is “pick your poison,” but the T-Birds don’t give their opponents many choices.

“It intimidates the other team not knowing who they’re going to face,” Smith said. “There are three D1 arms that are going to come after them at any given time.”

Hanson agreed.

“We all have a different pitch mix, different arm slots. It could be Blake’s running in 16 inches or mine tailing in a little bit and Ryan’s is firm,” he said.

Of the three, Orr has been a known quantity for the longest. He committed to WSU prior to his junior season, which he capped off with a 13-strikeout performance against Washougal in a 1-0 district semi-final victory.

“Ryan’s a dominant pitcher,” Overbay said. “He throws one of the best curve balls we’ve seen. When it snaps, it snaps and it’s hard. When you see the ball coming at you, you’re going to bail. Then his fast ball’s coming at 90-92.”

Orr has a plan when he takes the mound.

“I try to establish low in the zone, then work with my curve ball and change up to pitch to contact,” he said.

Though Smith can strike out his share of batters, his forte is, as the baseball adage goes, using his fielders.

“He can get outs quick, using his sinker to get a ground ball,” Overbay said. “He’s got a good running sinker, throws his fast ball 88-90, has good command of his pitches.”

Though crafty, Smith can also take an aggressive approach.

“My mentality is to shove it down the batter’s throat,” he said. “I want to jam them every time because my fast ball moves a lot, then throw my slider off of that.”

At 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, Hanson’s size gives him an edge.

“Being a big kid, Jordan has probably the most upside,” Overbay said. “He’s very fluid, he locates well, he’s probably got the best command of all three pitches on a consistent basis.”

Hanson also cultivates a hard attitude.

“I attack the hitters. In my mind, they don’t deserve to be in the batter’s box. I’ll come after them with my fast ball, try to make them look silly,” he said.

Despite their positives, Overbay, who played 14 seasons in the major leagues, doubts any of the three will be drafted high enough by an MLB team in June to convince them to forego their college scholarships.

“They’ll need to get their velocity up,” he said. “They keep progressing, though, so you never know.”

The three had different reasons for selecting the colleges they’ll attend in the fall.

“I thought Seattle U had a great campus,” said Smith. “At first I thought I didn’t want to go there, but when I went up to visit, it felt like its own little home.”

He also was drawn to pitching coach Carter Capps, a six-year big leaguer who came to the Redhawks from the New York Mets organization.

Hanson picked UNLV, whose head coach Stan Stolte was an assistant at Nevada-Reno when Overbay played there, over Seattle U.

“I wanted to go somewhere warm and make my own path,” he said.

Orr believes his chances to pitch right away will be strong at WSU.

Tumwater is 7-3 and on a four-game winning streak after losing three games in six days late last month. Up next is a two-game series with W.F. West on Tuesday in Chehalis and Wednesday in Tumwater. With the Bearcats 5-1 in the 2A Evergreen Conference and Tumwater 4-2, the series looms big.

But Overbay thinks the T-Birds, paced in hitting by his son Alex, Tumwater’s first baseman, and shortstop-turned-catcher Brayden Oram, have a shot to go far into the post-season.

“The sky’s the limit for these guys,” he said. “It’s fun to see what they do in the off-season and see their hard work paying off.”

The development of Tumwater’s younger hitters could be decisive.

“We’ve got some young guys that haven’t see a lot of varsity pitching so they’re going to go through some struggles,” Overbay said. “But they’re starting to see they can hit up here. They’re gaining confidence.”

Smith sees big opportunities but doesn’t want his team to get ahead of itself.

“The end goal is to put a big banner up in the gym, but the only way to get there is to stay focused on the next game,” he said.